Jackpot!

That's the exclamation (not to mention double entendre) that's likely doing cartwheels inside the heads of corporate higher ups and casino/hotel bookkeepers that are busy tallying their property's profits. It's a joy especially potent considering that a large portion of the green in their piggy banks stems from those very same gaming additions.

It may seem obvious to any Las Vegas traveler who's ever stepped foot in the MGM Grand, The Bellagio, or Mandalay Bay, but it's important to remember that at sometime, at some point, hotel designers reached this no-brainer conclusion: Instead of building casinos and hotels as separate structures, why not build them as single entities? Better still, why not pair the hotel and casino branding? That way, room rates, the mainstay for a hotel's revenue, can be partnered with an entirely new income stream: gambling money. Everybody knows tourists are coming to cities like Las Vegas to try their hand (and luck) at the one-armed bandit. Why not give hotel guests what they want right in the lobby, and monetize the experience?

A simple idea, for sure, but it's the aesthetic and business success at the root of the world-famous Las Vegas strip. And when it comes to creating revenue opportunities in common spaces, the burgeoning world of mobile, digital signage and location-aware technologies could learn a thing or two. Like the resort-casino model, mobile's next frontier - or certainly a frontier as it relates to hotels, is the lobby. It's a potential revenue, entertainment and loyalty source so significant that hoteliers who choose to mobilize their lobbies should be shouting "jackpot" too.

Mobile's Winning Combination: Engage, Entertain, Enjoy

Of all the places mobile technology has reached, (through smartphones or tablets) it's surprising that the hotel lobby has yet to be tapped – even less so than the hotel room, which is beginning, finally, to find its digital footing.